Food truck war at Walnut Wednesdays

CLEVELAND -- Walnut Wednesday has officially come to an end but not without one last food fight.

Most of the food trucks are independent owners or small up-and-coming business, so when Swensons food truck came in with slashed prices, it fired up the mom-and-pop shops.

"It's great food." said Brandy Hinkle,"I don't look at other trucks because I love Swensons."

That's one reason why Owner Kelly Waddell of the Nosh Box posted this sign: "The Nosh Box does not support Swensons Drive-In truck at this event." The other is because of pricing.

"Any business that has a price point that is about half of what the average truck at our event has, it hurts us by under-cutting,"Waddell said.

Swensons is from the Akron area. When they come to Walnut Wednesday they say their local gourmet food is actually priced 20 percent higher than at the restaurants themselves, but it's still lower than other trucks.

Cori Oliver of Swensons adds, "Our prices are priced a little bit lower then what they would prefer because of their prices, but we are not going to change what we are doing."

It's a free enterprise marketing tool that other trucks feel Swensons used to strong-arm their way into the one-of-a-kind event.

But Samantha Severo of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance says that's not it.

"We did not get strong-armed," she said. "It's just the demand is there. Swensons is a name that people want to see in downtown."

Other trucks like that they're there.

"I think it's good competition for all the other food vendors that may not serve their kind of food again, like at a Walnut Street, an event like this today," saidJohn Schulze, owner of the Zydeco Bistro food truck. "It gives a lot of variety, more options, and that's what a Walnut Wednesday is all about."

Waddell says, "Swensons is the truck today -- the truck tomorrow, we don't know what it's going to be. May it'll be another franchise McDonald's, Burger King ... we don't know what's coming down the line."

All of thefood trucks that have been involved in Walnut Wednesdays since the beginning, want to continue serving lunch to downtown Clevelanders next year.